


What I Owe You

by narutomaki



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Baby Fic, Baby Naruto, Gen, Grief, Kid Fic, MOSTLY a feel good fic dont worry, everyone is baby and Jiraiya has immedeatly set his bain to defense mode, how old is Hana? likely 13 that's old enough to work in an orphanage in Naurot right?, i get to write jiraiya how i want to bcus im gay, jiraiya can be an asshole but he's my asshole, minor animal death not critical or in depth, mostly a feel good fic but by god are these nin traumatized, ninja therapy, oc added bcus there's like minimal named Uchiha's, published as it's finished, ugly crying, unwilling uncle kakashi, written on a whim, yeah sure because i said so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:34:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24743176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/narutomaki/pseuds/narutomaki
Comments: 12
Kudos: 48





	1. Chapter 1

Jiraiya stared holes in him through the smoke as he took another draw from the burning pipe. “Why would I come back?” Kakashi tensed and bit his cheeks behind his mask in anger. “Sure they were my favorite students, but that’s where our relationship ended. I have no obligation to their child.”

With the way he said it, the easy way the words fell from his mouth Kakashi could almost have believed him. Jiraiya’s red-ringed eyes and chapped lips spoke of a man so deep in mourning he just wanted to hurt himself more. He would know.

“Plus-” he took another short draw, blowing it out of the side of his mouth. “You said Sensei almost didn’t send you; why should I take him at his word when he’s not sure of it himself. Now get lost. You delivered your message and I’m sick of looking at that mask, kid.”

Kakashi swallowed his pride, swallowed his pain and sorrow; and slid his ANBU mask to the side; making sure to catch Jiraiya’s eyes as he slid to his knees. Fingertips grazing Jiraiya’s shins as he bowed. “They named him Naruto. His hair is so blond right now it’s almost white, and it’s thick as a forest-”

A strangled; “Oh sage, please don’t.”

“His eyes are so blue you could mistake them for the sky. He has three whisker markings on each cheek; and he barely cries anymore. And he’s so quiet. He lays on his stomach and chews on-” Kakashi gave into the tears. “He teethes on the wooden blocks and- and his grip is so tight I’m afraid I’d just lift him up if I needed to leave and he wouldn’t let go.” He shook his head but didn’t move. “So I beg of you Jiraiya; Toad Sage of the Three Great Sannin, come back to Konoha for him.”

Kakashi stayed bowed until the shaking above him slowed, and raised his face again to stare at the man. His hands clutching his face desperately, the pipe placed to the side; put out now with a long crack running from it’s stem to the bowl; his entire body hunched inward shadowing where Kakashi prostrated himself.

“Please.” A nod, and then another as he loosened his hold to wipe his face off with his sleeve; leaving deep crescent marks on his cheeks and forehead where his hands had gripped in his grief.

“I’ll come back. For him, for you.”

“Thank-you, Jiraiya-sama.” Kakashi bowed and stood, waiting for the Sannin to pack his pipe and tobacco back into his satchel before stepping back and sliding his ANBU mask back into place. “Do you still need time to prepare your things or are you good to go right now?”

“If I go back to that inn no one will ever see me again; I can send for the stuff I left there just- don’t let me let him down.” His voice was hoarse and tight from holding in his sobbing, and Kakashi wordlessly dug out and passed him a water canteen. “Thanks.”  
  
The trip back was silent and lost in their own worlds they made quick progress; too single-minded to think to keep an eye or ear to the world around them. Right now there was only forward; right now there was only one path before them both. Back home, to Konoha; to Naruto.

Perhaps if either of them could have spared the brainpower they would have thought it through a little bit more, but neither of them did, keeping their faces forward and driving themselves past their limits until the gate to the village came into view.

When they arrived they slowed almost to a stop until the gate guard waved them past and they were gone again; full tilt until they stopped just outside the Orphanage gate. Locked in place as they stared up, Kakashi pointed.

“He’s in that room, but you’ll have to sign in if you want to put off being dragged to the Hokages office.” Jiraiya nodded mutely, took two grounding breaths, and stepped forward into the yard; ignoring the way children stopped their games to watch him pass and then look to stare unnervingly at the ANBU in a way only children could manage. Kakashi made himself scarce.  
  
“Hello I’m Jiraiya, I uhm..” The secretary looked up at him, blinking her young eyes owlishly toward his interruption. “I’m Uzumaki Naruto’s godfather.” The young girl perked up almost instantly, scooting her chair backward and running around to the front of the desk to shake his hand before she even introduced herself.

“I’m Hana, I take care of Naruto when I’m not working at the front desk. Oh, he’ll be so happy to meet you! Oh, not that he’s talking yet of course he’s still so little; but I just know he’ll be excited he loves visitors they get him babbling like nothing.” As she spoke she dragged him by the hand she had shaken up a flight of stairs and down the hall. “If you’re going to take him I’ll be sad to see him go, he really is such an angel for me. Some of the other staff members are mean to him so I’ve taken on more hours and I- oh! Shh!” She turned to him eyebrows drawn down and shushed him as if he had been the one talking a mile a minute, still moving to pull him into the room she quietly clicked the door shut behind them and dropped his hand to tiptoe to the side of the bassinet.

Her soft cooing as she tried to rouse the infant gave him a moment to think; and before the panic could set in he forced himself to look around. In the corner there was a small box with a block peaking up just over the edge with a deep tooth mark gouged into it, beside that was a changing station with diapers loosely and haphazardly folded underneath the edge, and on each side of the door was a chart, one was blank.

“Uwa!” He started badly as a tiny body was stuck right in his face, small hands coming up to grip dangerously in his hair as the soft smell of baby powder pushed itself under his nose from Naruto's thick hair as he pulled the Sannin bodily forward.

“Here he is!” The caregiver chirped, earning another loud happy gurgle from the babe as he attempted to shove clumps of hair into his mouth. Jiraiya took him under the armpits and desperately tried to remember how Tsunade had told him to hold children. “His neck is almost strong enough now to support itself full time, but I’d still give him some support.” With gentle and understanding hands Hana guided one of his palms to hold Naruto’s bottom and the other to cup his neck, pressing the now cooing baby into his chest.

“My clothes are dirty.” He said, thoughtlessly.

“I’m sure he won’t mind, right Naruto? You like getting dirty remember? It makes you happy, you like being outside in the sun on your blanket. You get very happy, right?” In response to her cheerful tone, he wiggled his body and thumped his fists against Jiraiya’s chest and let out a long happy warble.

“He likes you.” She smiled brightly at him. “I’m the youngest caregiver here so I’m sort of in the dark to why the other nannies and nurses don’t like him, but I like to think it wouldn’t matter anyway. I mean... look at him!” She was beaming, helping him maneuver his hold on the boy and get the tiny fists out from at least one section of his hair.

“Whenever we try to keep another baby in here he gets really cranky; and the nurses don’t like it anyway. So he’s living the life of luxury with a room all to himself!”

“How many days do you work?” She matched his solemn expression, keeping her hand moving to distract Naruto.

“Four full weeks and then one mandated vacation, I’m running myself raw but the... the way some of them look at him, I don’t trust them.” Her voice was hard in a way Jiraiya hadn’t expected her to be capable of. “They don’t look at any of the other kids or teens that way, even when they get brought back here by the Uchiha guard with criminal charges.” Naruto warbled again, snatching her hand and successfully biting her before she could get it away. “He does that... a lot actually. I hope you have tough skin.”

“The toughest.” His teeth ground and he took a leveling breath before adjusting Naruto against his chest and bowing to her. “Thank you, for caring for him. I’m sorry I didn’t-”

“Some never come at all; or write us just to tell us how bad the parents were. Some come in to meet the child and then say they don’t want them to their face. You’re late, Jiraiya-sama, but you’re already doing much better than some.”

“I almost didn’t.” He admitted, running his finger along Naruto’s cheek and then darting it away faster than his baby eyes could see when he tried to chomp down.

“Almost. But you did; maybe in another life you didn’t, and I quit, and he gets hurt so bad he holds it against us all for the rest of his life. Almost is a very important word here, sir.”

They stood in silence as he tried to formulate what to say next. “I have to meet with the Hokage. I don’t ... want to leave him though.” She nodded in understanding and started gently taking him away.

“I’ll be here when you come back, even if they kick me out after my shift and I have to sneak back in.” Her had eyes convinced him very quickly she wasn’t lying. “In the meantime, though! Naruto could use some sun, so we’ll walk you out, okay?” Her jovial mood was back in an instant and it eased the tension in his shoulders and neck just a little bit as they made their way out; Hanah chattering and pointing stuff out to Naruto the whole way.

“I should be back within a couple of hours at the latest but-”

“My mum’s a ninja, I understand, sir.”

He thanked her and left, stopping at a riverbank on the way to summon a toad and send him back to the inn he had left his manuscripts in.  
  
\--  
  
For a moment when he saw his old teacher he saw red, the anger the walk here had burned off returning full force in the face of the man who had allowed Naruto’s suffering-  
Seeing Kakashi stand, ANBU mask gone, brought him out of the anger and back to the matter at hand.

“I’m taking him.” Hiruzen seemed to startle at that before he smiled widely.

“It is good to see you again, too, my student.” Jiraiya cut back a bitter retort as the man continued. “I’m afraid if you’re going to take the boy in though, you’ll have to resign and get a place here in the village again.”

“I’ll see it done by this evening,” Kakashi said for him. “If that’s alright sir? The girl who’s on shift at the housing desk can push things through for me faster.”

“That’s... thank-you, Hatake.” The boys one visible eye slitted in annoyance but he bowed once to the Hokage and once to Jiraiya before seeing himself out.

“He doesn’t like being called that,” Hiruzen said conversationally, Jiraiya grunted in response and sat down. “I’m glad I called for you, the head nurse has been kicking up a bit of a fuss lately about having to pay one of caregivers more for long hours. I assumed it had to do with him.”

After he finished silence stretched, the man puffed occasionally from his pipe but waited; used to playing this game with ANBU more strong-willed and silent than stone.

“Were you aware he-” Jiraiya took a deep breath. “The staff there hates him. How aware?”

“Perfectly, once the head nurse started kicking up dust.” A snarl was building in Jiraiya’s chest. “It’s why I sent for you now, instead of holding back as I had planned on doing.”

Jiraiya stood, snarled wordlessly as he pushed back, and marched himself from the room before he killed the man and ruined Naruto’s life even more.

Kakashi caught up to him a couple of hours later as he lingered outside the orphanage, trying desperately to burn the anger away without causing a scene before going in and seeing his godson and Hana again. He handed over a packet of papers as a greeting.

“It will take a bit of cleaning up, but it’s an estate on the outskirts of town to the rear of the Uchiha compound.” Jiraiya nodded as he leafed through all the signed documents.

“Sorry for forging your signature I figured you’d be too-” He waved a casual hand at Jiraiya with a widened eye for effect.

“You’re good at it, at least. Should hire you to go through my fan-mail telling people to piss off.” Kakashi huffed out a laugh as he turned his eye to stare at the orphanage as a streetlight flickered on. “Come on, Hana’s waiting.”

“You want me to come?” Kakashi said, voice strangled.

“Of course kid, you may as well be his uncle, now get your ass in there before I frog march you.” Kakashi swallowed, looking a little wild as he forced himself past the arch and into the now empty yard. “First time you’ll be without it?” The boy nodded mutely, crossing his arms in an attempt to be casual and hide his shaking fists, Jiraiya laid a heavy hand on his shoulder and squeezed before pushing the door open and walking past the kids that had been snooping at the window.

“Hana?” She spun around, looking a little more exhausted than she had before; but still perked up when she saw him. “I uh- got a place set up and. Not sure if it’s move-in ready... will he be-”

“As long as there’s one livable room he’ll be fine.” She said, voice soft as she stood, leading them again up the stairs and into the room. “He started crying as soon as you were past the gates, he’s never done that before.”

“He’s never really watched anyone leave before.” Kakashi supplemented, ignoring her questioning look.

“I guess that’s true, he only sees us leave through his bedroom door, so I don’t think he understood that you’d be back.” The small bundle in her arms shifted and sniffled softly, his little fists balled up and his face screwed up to let out an ear-shattering cry even as Hana hushed him desperately. Jiraiya stood frozen next to Kakashi as the caretaker rocked him slowly, too tired to ask them for help as the baby wailed.

“Naruto,” Jiraiya said, forcing his feet to move him forward. “Kiddo, hey there.” The sobbing paused as Naruto turned his head to Jiraiya’s voice in confusion. “Hey I’m back, it’s okay now, I'm here.” He continued to wail, petering off but just as strong as Jiraiya took him and tucked him against his chest, rubbing a broad hand in small motions; shushing him softly as Hana stepped back, relief blessing her features as she moved to pack a bag for him.

“He doesn’t have a lot of stuff.” She spoke between and over his cries. “But I’ll pack you a bag with a couple days worth of essentials and what toys he does have. He’s young enough still he can sleep on a mat without wandering off too far, but make sure he won’t suffocate himself. Ah, just one pillow, and make sure he’s on his back when he goes down. He should be fine, it’s just a precaution.” She passed the bag to a bewildered Kakashi, forcing him to take it. “He drinks formula, but the mixing and heating instructions are on the box. There are nurses at the hospital that will give him check-ups but... stay in the room while they do okay?” A sad look passed between them as Naruto hiccuped, clutching tightly as Jiraiya’s shirt. “I’ll miss him.”

“I... don’t want to push but you can have my address, come check up on him if you want?” Hana smiled, too exhausted to be too excited but she nodded softly.

“I’d like that. Right, Naruto?” The baby huffed softly, already falling asleep again. “He... might cry a lot tomorrow and he may not stop unless he’s eating or sleeping, and he may get sick after eating and- you do know how to take care of a baby, right?”

“Soft pats on the back after they eat to they can vomit on me? Yeah, my squadmate had a younger brother and worked in the maternity ward for a few months, I know the essentials. Just didn’t know the sleeping thing.” He paused. “I’m also a little hazy on benchmarks but I’m sure I’ll find something.” Hana relaxed, smiling at his reassurances before ushering them out, locking up Naruto’s room behind them, and slipping a square sheet of white paper in the door jam.

“I’ll be taking tomorrow off, I let my supervisor know once you left and he fell asleep. If you're sure it’s not too much I can stop by with my mum at lunch to check in on you?”

“I would appreciate that very much, miss.” She smiled again, patted Naruto’s hair with a feather-light touch, and waved them off through the front doors.

“So it’s left and then-” Jiraiya huffed, eyeing Kakashi before laughing soundlessly as the man ducked his head defeated and hefted the cheap diaper bag up onto his shoulder again. “I’ll just lead the way than.”


	2. Chapter 2

The window was open, letting the humid night breeze in as Jiraiya sat awake, staring between the block and Naruto's mouth with his brows pulled down in confusion. Naruto had woken up briefly a couple of times already to cry, but for the most part, he had slept fairly well. Tossing the block a couple of feet into the air he turned it around in his hand again but couldn't make sense of it.  
  
Naruto had teeth. A good portion of them that he was fairly sure shouldn't have popped up yet. As far as he knew from one of Tsunade’s many study sessions turned rants, a 6-month-old still on formula wasn't abnormal but having 5 teeth was most likely in the realm of impossible.   
  
There were the easy explanations of course- with the Nine-Tails being at the forefront of them all, but Jiraiya had checked the seal and he was positive that not only should it's chakra not be influencing him; but that the beast itself was asleep in there. He could also just be ahead for his age thanks to the Uzumaki chakra reserves, but that still seemed like way too many. Way too many to still be on formula, at least.

He shook his head, knowing he was getting worse than nowhere he set the block down back in the bag and went back to laying a good arm's length or so away from his godson, watching his small chest rise and fall until he fell asleep too.  
  
  
He woke up maybe 3 hours later to a hand slapping him in the face. Disgruntled he blinked the sleep from his eyes and stared at the small nose a couple of inches from his own. Naruto was awake and not crying, he would gratefully take being slapped awake over tears any day.  
  
"Hey there." Another slap. "Yeah, I'm awake what's up, kid?" And another, followed by soft giggling when he twisted his face up in a silly expression, sticking his tongue out.   
  
"Ah-gah!" He laughed delighted and pulled himself another inch closer.  
  
"Ah-gah to you too, kid." Jiraiya smiled and let Naruto inch himself a little closer before sitting up and scooting away. The sun was about to come up and he'd survived for days on less sleep in worse conditions, so he was convinced he could do just fine. As he dragged himself forward- feet still slapping the futon a bit, he cooed and babbled. "You sure are chatty in the mornings, huh?" Another happy babble, even as he flopped forward to lay his head down tired of doing all the work.  
  
Jiraiya stood and then squatted to pick the baby up, rising slowly. "You're pretty calm there kiddo. Glad we get along." He settled the boy in the crook of one arm and leaned to pick up a bottle, before stepping outside into the fresh morning air. It was warm already as he sat down, the sun crawling up the horizon he was fairly confident it wouldn’t reach unbearable levels today at least. He sat, legs bent out onto the grass and gravel of the front garden; Naruto a welcome weight against him.

"You know, I never thought I'd be settling down here again. It's dumb but once I passed a certain age I always thought I'd settle down in a different Nation once I had my network more fleshed out." When he stopped Naruto took up the mantle, and he watched, nodding every so often and humming thoughtfully.  
  
"You bring up a good point, I think it is time for breakfast." He held the bottle up and shook it, eyeing it to make sure it was mixed right and hadn't separated somehow in the 3 hours he had been asleep. He helped Naruto take hold of it, and watched in fascinated horror as he downed the whole thing way too fast. "I... only made one so I hope you're full, start crying if not okay? And please don't throw it all up." He added as an afterthought, lifting Naruto to his shoulder and patting as soft as he could manage, scared of hurting him even though he knew he could be gentle; he handed small amphibians for most of his day for crying out loud.  
  
Naruto shifted and whined, only letting out a tiny huff of a burp before letting out a string of what Jiraiya could only assume were baby curse words, pushing himself away from Jiraiya's shoulder insistently. "Okay, but if you get cranky you only have yourself to blame."   
  
"A-waa." Jiraiya nodded, accepting Naruto's pushing and settling him back in his arm. Only for the child to try and immediately fling himself to the ground. He let out a yelp and grabbed the back of his sleep shirt in alarm, settling him back in place again and trying to ignore his face scrunching up.  
  
"No crying this early, the Uchiha will kill me." He struggled for a moment to get his own shirt off, without throwing the boy himself, and laid it flat on the wood beside him and put Naruto down the next instant, cutting off what sounded like a forming sniffle as he swung his head this way and that at wonder for the big and beautiful outside world.   
  
\--  
  
Kakashi stopped by once Jiraiya had put Naruto down for a nap before lunchtime, all the doors and windows were thrown open to air the dusty estate out as he cleaned as silently as he could, the young Gama brothers summoned to fetch him when Naruto woke up.   
  
"How is it going?" He asked, leaning casually against the main door. The effect thoroughly ruined by the tense line of his shoulders and a slight cutting tone in his words.  
  
"Ah... fairly well. I wouldn't have been mad about a smaller place, you know. I'm an old man; all this cleaning is killing my back." He drawled, rubbing his lower back as if that would convince the man. Kakashi glared very pointedly with his one eye. "Oh fine, Naruto's doing alright. He's down for a nap right now. By the way, you're gonna need a lot of work if you want to pass for actually casual."  
  
The other man was silent, choosing instead to assess Jiraiya's progress of the main room; as with the rest of the house now it was dust-free, old debris swept out into the back and front gardens, and about half washed.  
  
"It's empty."   
  
"If that's the limit of your assessment than I'm really going to have to take up your training with your ANBU captain."  
  
"That would be me."  
  
Jiraiya stared at the other as if someone would lie about that, wondering just how old this person actually was. "Well, you got me there. It's not like I have a lot of stuff exactly. I'm a spymaster, kid. You don't hold onto things like... tables and carpets!" He stood, stretching out his back and legs. "Which is why once Hana leaves you're on babysitting duty."  
  
"What?" His voice was hard and cold.  
  
"I need to go do shopping, and Hana can't exactly stay and watch the kid on her day off."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I'm not letting you become some shadow in my godson's life." They were facing each other now, half a room away, and Kakashi still felt the force of Jiraiya's intentions. "Not when I almost was, you're not getting off the hook just because you came to fetch me."  
  
Kakashi smartly kept his mouth shut and didn't move, as confident as he was Jiraiya was decades his senior, a decorated war veteran, and most importantly of all, not an enemy.   
  
"Look, kid, we're gonna butt heads. That's a given, I don't like people and I don't like commitment, and you obviously aren't ready to do this. But that all sort of flies out the window when-" He reigned his anger back in when he realized he had been advancing on the younger man, finger raised. Kakashi had taken a step back. "I'm not mad at you, kid. Just... this shit-show of a village. And Hana wasn’t even supposed to be a full-time employee I’m sure, so I can’t picture her being enthusiastic about working on her day off."  
  
"Yeah. Okay."  
  
"Help me finish up here, this-" He gestured between and around them vaguely. "Can all come once I have a proper futon."  
  
"What do you mean proper futon?"  
  
"Spymaster. Hermit. What connection are you missing here, kid?"  
  
  
Hana's knock came at the same time Gamatatsu popped into the main room, just in time to get 3 kunai flung at him; Kakashi looking ready to lunge for any intruder.  
  
"Aaa! Gamatatsu's sorry," the small toad droned, covering his own head even though Jiraiya managed to divert the weapons before they came too close. "But the little human you asked us to watch woke up. He keeps smacking and grabbing at Gamakichi, sir."  
  
"Alright, thanks Gamatatsu, you're both dismissed. You did a wonderful job." The little yellow toad beamed and vanished with a small hop; still too immature to vanish himself without movement. "That's my queue to go get the kid. Hana, Tsume, come in. I'll be right back. That's Kakashi." With one vague wave around the room in place of a proper introduction, he vanished down the short hall to go get his godson.  
  
"Hey there Naruto, have a good nap?" Jiraiya asked, leaning down and picking the boy up. Wrinkling his nose slightly.  
  
"Well, not the best end but I'm sure you slept alright if you were down for that long. Did you like the Gama kids?" Naruto burbled and wiggled, noises in response to Jiraiya's voice. The man dug out a couple of cloths and a diaper from the bag. "Now, I would appreciate it if you've already peed as well but I'm not holding out hope." He kept talking, entertaining the small boy with quick motions of his hand whenever it as free for more than a second. Once that was taken care of he grabbed his over-shirt from under the boy and put it on again, ignoring Naruto's gurgled complaint when he tugged it away from his grasping hands.   
  
He walked back out to Hana sitting awkwardly between Kakashi and her mother, as the older woman glared holes into the side of Kakashi's head.  
  
"That one's not mine, so whatever he said-"  
  
"How do you know who I am?" Tsume barked, taking Jiraiya back for a moment before he found his conversational footing.  
  
"You're a clan head; before I was dismissed yesterday that's kind of the information I had to know."  
  
"Why?" He squinted, trying to pull a reasonable (and shareable) answer from his mind. "You're not ANBU, and just because you're a decorated man doesn't mean I trust you one fucking bit with that kid and my-"  
  
"Mum!" Hana yelled over her mum's next words, stopping her in her tracks and Hana gestured to the wiggling lump on Jiraiya's hip. "You're upsetting Naruto!"  
  
"Oh. Yeah, normal kid, right." Jiraiya snorted, earning a glare each from two people as Hana looked between them all; aggravated she apparently wasn't in the loop. "Sorry, Hana just took a liking to him. I guess I'm protective now too."  
  
"No that makes sense, ma'am, no offence taken I’ve had worse introductions before." He bowed, adjusting Naruto so that his small head was against his chest, hands devastatingly within hair yanking range. But he stayed small after he was comfortable, burying his face away and clutching the fabric of Jiraiya's shirt. He sat slowly, keeping a relative distance so they all ended up in a small circle on the floor. "To answer you're question, I am- or rather I _was_ , Konoha's legwork spymaster. I needed to know all the notable people in the village by name and face, and that was mostly clan heads, in case it was ever relevant. And I'm Naruto's godfather, for all the good that's done him up until now, I do intend to keep him safe."  
  
Tsume thought on his words for a long moment before turning to her daughter, who nodded and smiled. "Good, that's... good. Hana just wanted to stop by and check up on him, and I wanted to see if-" She waved her hand. "What's the word I'm thinking of Hana?"  
  
"Playdate?"  
  
"They call it that for normal kids too? I'm never too sure once I’ve been cooped up for too long, sorry. I had another brat recently, Kiba, he's just getting to be ten months now and he's really only been around the pack. I figured since, y'know, that Naruto might be a little more resilient than the other brats that means they could have a playdate."  
  
Kakashi looked ready to combust, but Jiraiya raised a calming hand; hoping he wasn’t misunderstanding the young man's anger. "He's still only six months, Tsume. No matter what else he's got going on it doesn't negate that fact. However, I'm not going to say no. He's going to need friends." He smiled at her, trying to land between genuine and placating. "You're an honest woman, from the first clan I would trust to be transparent with their intentions of getting closer to the boy; so I hope you take those words and understand why I'll need me or someone I trust to be around to supervise as well."  
  
"Yeah, Kiba is a little rough, drew blood on his dad the other day. Almost all his baby teeth in now." She said it with vicious glee, but it brought Jiraiya back to the issue that had kept him up to the early hours.   
  
"Naruto has 5 teeth." Hana looked shocked, and Tsume looked almost outraged. "I'm not- I’m not bragging, it- it's weird, right? Hana, that's not normal?" He stressed and the girl mutely shook her head, looking with wide baffled eyes at the back of Naruto’s head.  
  
"I never got a good look in his mouth, I assumed he'd be switching to hard food soon when he bit me the first time but... I didn't know." She stammered, thrown off by the new fact.  
  
"I'm not asking you to explain yourself or anything, kid. I just wasn't positive. I don't know much about his mother's lineage but that's the best lead I have right now."  
  
"It isn't...?" Tsume made a pointed humming sound in her throat.  
  
"No,” he said solidly. “I've pretty much ruled that out entirely as a possible influence, I just needed back up on knowing I wasn't misremembering when their teeth were supposed to come in." At that Hana jolted and sat up straighter with a soft 'oh', before digging around in the bag beside her and pulling out a scroll, passing it to Jiraiya with a bow of her head.  
  
"I had my mum help me put some books in here for you. Just about benchmarks and general child-rearing past the infancy stage." She smiled, the same enthusiastic smile that she had worn at the orphanage when he had announced who he was.  
  
"Thank you both very much, I'll find a way to repay you as I can." Tsume nodded and stood, obviously done with both the conversation and sitting still now that she had what she came for, and Hana followed her with an exasperated look. "Stop by any time you would like. Both of you, it will do me and this house some good to have guests."  
  
When they had seen themselves out Jiraiya turned to Kakashi, who's back was set straight with his one eye staring at the wall ahead of him, silent as a stone.  
  
"Alright, what set you off there, kid?"  
  
"You talk about him like he's an... an object." His voice almost wasn't there, and Jiraiya winced at the seething cold anger.  
  
"I'm... sorry. It's hard to discuss arrangements without-"  
  
"I know." He bit out.  
  
"...okay?"   
  
"I need to leave." And Jiraiya let him go, sighing heavily down into Naruto’s downy thick hair.  
  
"Looks like you're stuck with me, kid. And it looks like _I'm_ stuck without a table." Naruto shuffled his fingers tighter into Jiraiya's top, so he stood up and took them both back to their room. Not setting Naruto down, even though it made mixing anther bottle of formula more difficult than it could have been. "You up for eating? We can wait a bit." He said, moving Naruto around a bit so he at least wouldn't be struggling to breathe against the fabric of Jiraiya’s shirts.   
  
The mood didn't last much longer though once he saw the bottle, one hand loosening and pinching in the air at it. Jiraiya laughed, delighted that Naruto's moods passed so easily back to contentment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some vague clarification:   
> Jiraiya knows Kakashi's feats only as Hound and isn't familiar with who he is as a person, which includes his age. He did however know he was a Captain, that was a jab. Grief makes you a weird person, and being a ninja isn't going to help your reactions make any more sense lmao.  
> The Inuzuka clan is a matriarchal clan; so he's not expecting Tsume to be anything but how she is. Naruto is just now exploring having different reactions to strangers as well! Very cute. Congrats on the developing personality baby boy.  
> I swear I had a fourth point but I got distracted trying to spell matriarchal and forgot. Chapter 3 is written and I'm going to edit it because apparently I do that now. Chapter 4 is started. I've done 4x the work on this fic than I thought I would.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What do we do!?” Gai asked, panicking, hopping from foot to foot as Kakashi listened to Naruto’s crying get even louder than it had been before.
> 
> “I don’t know! I’ve never been around him crying before!” Gai looked at Kakashi, Kakashi looked at Gai. They both turned to look at the screaming baby, flailing his arms and legs in the air, face red and scrunched up in a horrifying portrait.
> 
> Gai started crying...

When Kakashi hadn’t made a reappearance by dinner time, and Jiraiya had realized he was going on almost twenty-four hours with an empty stomach, he made the difficult decision of trying to figure out how to craft a swaddle out of some spares clothes and a blanket that was probably three times too large. All while overthinking why Kakashi had been so affected by his cross-talk with the Inuzuka matriarch. It had been his job for the better part of two decades to overthink interactions like that, but he had been so focused on her he hadn’t noticed what had actually set Kakashi down into such a seething temper. A day off the job and he was already slipping, he snorted at his own thoughts and aborted one plan he had before it even fully formed. He could not just wrap Naruto up in a cocoon and strap him to his chest with a pair of pants. Even if it was efficient...

He tossed the pants away before he made a bad decision. 

Sighing in defeat he unrolled a weapons scroll, grabbed a kunai, and sealed it again with a pop, smiling at Naruto’s wide eyes and open mouth. “Maybe I’ll teach you that one day, hm? Now... how to make this work.”

If there was one thing Jiraiya had always admitted he was not good at it would be fibre work, regardless of how simple the task was if it went beyond cutting fabric he was at a loss. Which meant after he ripped up his only blanket he didn’t know what his next steps would even conceivably be. Naruto babbled on beside him as he quietly despaired over his own stupidity.

\--

Gai found Kakashi four hours after he had fled the household, kneeling in front of his father's unmarked grave with his hands still balled in shaking fists on his lap. 

“Rival?” The word broke through his reverie and he turned his head minutely to indicate he had heard. “What happened?”

“I-” The words cut off in the back of his throat. He had been angry- furious even- at so many things at once and none of them made sense to even be angry about. “Don’t know.”

Gai just made a noise, leaving for a second before coming back with a couple picked wildflowers to lay at the base of the unmarked headstone, sitting down quietly beside Kakashi.

“It was- I wanted to- I don’t know.” He pushed out again, jaw clenching as his shoulders hunched in even more. 

“Is it logical?”

“No.”

“Than stop beating yourself up about it, Kakashi. Whatever happened made you angry because you’re still grieving.” Gai paused. “Unless I’m wrong and it has nothing to do with Naruto?” Kakashi shook his head, closing his eye tight, trying to centre himself. He had learned long ago anger and pain didn’t need to make sense, didn’t need a cause; but he still pissed himself off when he reacted so poorly to things that didn’t matter. Gai was a blessing and a curse in disguise.

“Inuzuka Tsume stopped by.” Gai hummed knowingly as if that somehow explained everything, and maybe it did somehow. Gai had an unerring ability to read him like that sometimes, just a couple words and somehow dots would just connect in his head and he’d know what to say. Or he just made that noise to soothe Kakashi’s nerves. Whichever it was it worked most of the time. Most. “I got angry and ran off, Jiraiya had asked me before she came to watch Naruto while he went shopping.”

“So that’s where you started getting angry,” Gai said. “And then it just kept building.” Kakashi stared at him, unsettled. He just shrugged and stood up. “Come on, you’re going back.” 

Kakashi spluttered as Gai pulled him up, the touch was slow and anything but harsh. If he wanted to fight it he could, and Gai knew that- they both did. He let Gai pull him away regardless, trying desperately to cling to his bewilderment instead of the still steaming confusing anger in his gut.

When they got back to the house it was to find Jiraiya laying on the floor on his back next to a quiet Naruto, a bundle of fabric balled up and tossed in the far corner.

“Excuse me, sir!” Jiraiya twisted his head up to stare at Gai. “I have come to assist my eternal rival in the well-respected challenge of watching a child!” Jiraiya squinted, looking at Kakashi behind him before sighing, twisting to get up from his stomach. Naruto mimicking the action, then babbling and slapping his hands on the floor, eyes locked on Jiraiya.

“Thanks for coming back, he gets fed in 20 minutes, the formula’s mixed already in the bag. I’ll be back when I’m back.” Kakashi’s anger flared and he almost stepped after the man as he vanished, held back only by Naruto’s immediate wails. Gai looked as terrified as Kakashi suddenly felt.

“What do we do!?” Gai asked, panicking, hopping from foot to foot as Kakashi listened to Naruto’s crying get even louder than it had been before. 

“I don’t know! I’ve never been around him crying before!” Gai looked at Kakashi, Kakashi looked at Gai. They both turned to look at the screaming baby, flailing his arms and legs in the air, face red and scrunched up in a horrifying portrait. 

Gai started crying, not real tears, they just seemed to be his genuine stress response these days. Inching closer to Naruto, Kakashi slowly reached out his hands and scooped the crying infant up. Holding him at arm's length as Naruto rolled his body up and flailed, letting out an ear-shattering wail. 

“You’re not holding him right.” Both men twisted around, the boy's voice somehow cut smoothly through Narutos sobs. “Don’t turn so fast, it’s bad for him.” The Uchiha boy stared at them then at Naruto and then back at them. “Would you like some help?” 

Kakashi was sure his neck would snap if he nodded any faster, immediately handing the crying baby to the boy, who tucked Naruto up with one arm even though the baby was large enough for his feet to dangle off Itachi's arm; before sitting down and the stoop and swaying slowly, voice too quiet now to hear what he was saying now as he murmured and pet Narutos face and hair.

Gai looked at Kakashi and inched closer.

“Is this a good idea?” He whispered.

“He’s what? 7? I’m sure it’s fine.” Kakashi hissed back.

Naruto’s cries slowly stopped, breaking off into fitful bursts. The Uchiha didn’t stop muttering until he was completely silent.

“He’s tired himself out, it would do good to be quiet right now.” He advised, still swaying slowly side to side; gently wiping Naruto’s face with his sleeve. “I’m Uchiha Itachi. I train in the field just beyond the treeline. I have a baby brother, I figured I’d try to help.”

Kakashi appreciated the boys even tone and the way he laid it all out easily and also appreciated that even as he spoke to them he kept his eyes on Naruto. Kakashi didn’t think he could handle any judgment right now.

“Thank you very much, Itachi!” Gai stage whispered. “We were supposed to be babysitting but we weren’t prepared!”

“It’s no problem. My brother cries if anyone but my mum or myself holds him. Even if I couldn’t help, I could have fetched her. She would have come.” Kakashi ran through the catalogue of Uchiha women who had a son around Naruto’s age, who had an older son; and felt faint. 

Mikoto. He felt himself moving to leave, but Gai’s grip was tight this time, truly holding him in place at his body panicked. 

“We appreciate it very much. His name is Naruto, he’s under the care of the Sannin Jiraiya.” Itachi finally looked at them as Gai spoke. 

“So they would be the Uchiha compounds new neighbours? Father was complaining about the land being sold so suddenly during dinner last night.” Kakashi mentally flinched. “I’m sure he will complain less once he knows it is one of the legendary Sannin.”

Gai laughed; “I sure hope so! Maybe Naruto and Sasuke can even hang out when they’re older!” Kakashi found it hard to breathe.

“Maybe.” Itachi said, his eyes focusing on Kakashi than, head tilting as he turned his body to get a more full view of the older boy. “Are you okay, sir?” 

\--

Jiraiya folded and tucked the last receipt into the clip before placing it back under the tie of the top box and lifting the short pile up. Thanking the cashier with a nod, thankfully leaving the last store on his to-do list behind him. On one hand, it felt nice to be able to use his title so brazenly to push orders through to the top of lists, and the amount of money he was willing to throw around to make sure he and Naruto were comfortable certainly hadn’t been hurting his goals either. On the other hand, he hated shopping and negotiating specifics with people who wanted his life story as they took his money.

Making his way home just slowly enough to keep everything from falling, mind on where to put what, he pulled up short seeing the new addition to his front porch.

The young boy had an arm cradled loosely around Naruto's stomach, patting his back with short gentle taps, a look of intent concentration focusing his little features so tight Jiraiya could almost have laughed at the scene; and he would have if he wasn’t worried about disturbing it. He slowed his pace even more and made sure to scuff his sandals in the hopes the boy would hear him before Naruto saw him.

“Oh, hello, sir. You must be Jiraiya.” He stopped his patting and lifted his head to focus on Jiraiya’s approach. “I’m Uchiha Itachi, Maito Gai and Hatake Kakashi are inside trying to figure out how you’ve been disposing of Naruto’s diapers.” 

“Thank you for telling me, kiddo.” Naruto was thrashing and gargling now that he had spoken, trying to bounce his way out of Itachi’s hold and to Jiraiya. “You mind if I take him? I appreciate it.” He set his boxes down and lifted Naruto from Itachi’s lap, holding the baby a little closer and a little tighter than was technically necessary as he threw the door open. Inviting the Uchiha boy in with a wave of his hand their sandals left next to the pile of boxes. Jiraiya levelled a frozen Gai and Kakashi with an unimpressed stare.

“Uhm- welcome back?” Gai offered, still holding the folded diaper away from his body like it had offended him personally, Kakashi was standing just out of easy passing range and twisted his body even further away when Gai broke the silence.

“Next time I leave you to watch Naruto, I expect you to at least be sitting beside your competent saviour.” His voice was unimpressed and Naruto laughed brightly as his hands sought and tugged painfully at Jiraiya’s hair. “Now I have thank you’s to pay out, leave the diaper on the back stoop and come back to help me unpack.” The two nodded, chastised easily by the man's tone, and after a moment's hesitation they both vanished deeper into the house to do as he had asked.

“Naruto was very distressed by you leaving, I think.” Itachi said, apparently his own way of trying to lighten whatever punishment he seemed to think Jiraiya intended to dish out once he had left.

“I’m sure he was, but I had expected two almost grown men to be able to handle it.” He huffed, turning back to Itachi to bow deeply, Naruto still cradled against his body. “But I owe you many thanks, Uchiha Itachi, for coming to the aid of the house, if there’s anything you ever require of me in the days and years to come do not hesitate to ask me.”

Itachi, for all he looked extremely overwhelmed by the sincere offer, bowed back. “Thank you, sir, I was just doing what I thought was right. I... I also think Kakashi and Gai are still 15. I don’t mean to correct you sir, but it’s a sore point for my father.”

Jiraiya was going to need to learn to become much better at suppressing his genuine anger and surprise if Hiruzen wanted to see the next sunrise. Why had he thought the boy was older? He should have definitely known better, should have at least remembered how long ago Sakumo had introduced him to the little scarecrow. Time had gotten away from them all, and apparently his sensei saw that as an excuse to have a young teenager as an ANBU captain. 

“Of course. But I’m sure you will do him proud, kiddo. Now I imagine you’re parents are worried sick, and I don’t want to make you help out even more so I’m going to have to shoo you away now.” He made the motion with his hand, tried to ignore the fleeting look of- something disappointed that crossed the young child’s face, and walked him out to the front garden again to see him off. Waving Itachi away again with a soft motion as he twisted and took one last look at Naruto, before vanishing into the treeline edging the property. 

Kakashi and Gai rounded the corner, wincing as they came under the full brunt of Jiraiya’s unimpressed glare again. “Took you two long enough, no cahoots in my back garden, got it?”

Kakashi spluttered as Gai turned an alarming shade of pink and nodded to hard it looked like he would hurt his neck. Ah, young love, blind to the meaning of cahoots to jump straight to the assumption of something sweeter.

“I just need these boxes unpacked; the bottom one is a new futon so just drop it off in the room I’m sleeping in for now. The rest is pretty much just bed dressings, and clothes for Naruto. When you find the carrier and food just holler for me and sit in the kitchen.” He sat, waved over his shoulder for them to hurry it up, and listened to Naruto babble in an attempt to mimic his tone.

It didn’t take the two of them long to finish the assigned task, which Jiraiya had expected; it’s not as if he had come home over burdened, or with furniture to be built. Anything like that he had ordered to be delivered tomorrow, with a request for a genin team to help submitted at the administration building on his way past. He didn’t know how long he’d have the ability to rely on Kakashi for help. Even if he was young, his title would likely end up taking him away and Jiraiya wouldn’t even get to know before the boy vanished for weeks on end. He had no idea if Gai’s existence was mutually exclusive to Kakashi’s or not. 

He had been a decent, if not good, spy master for decades, though. Was used to navigating circumstantial relationships. Honest ones he had never been too good at however; but he could deal with a baby ANBU captain buried in grief and- whatever Gai was. Probably. Likely.

Hopefully.

\--

After eating the boys had thanked him and left looking run down and tired from the new sort of stress of holding a baby set on escaping their laps while Jiraiya had heated and cooked a simple dinner. As well as trying to get the boy into the sling on either of them- which had been the source of Gai biting his own lip as Naruto had flailed and headbutt his chin so hard they looked like they would both cry and bruise. 

Thankfully Naruto was mostly quiet now, on his back on the new futon with a flat pillow tucked under his head as he stared at Jiraiya folding and sorting everything out; eyes drooping every so often before he would wiggle himself awake again to stare some more.

“You’re going to be cranky tomorrow if you don’t sleep soon, Naruto.” He smoothed and patted the pillowcases down, lifting the small pile and dropping them beside his old futon with the rest of the bed wear. It was a better idea to have a single larger one for now because once Naruto was old enough he could inherit this one; it had been new anyway, it should last that long. 

Naruto burbled as he jerked himself around onto his stomach, keeping his head turned to stare at Jiraiya’s movements as he worked on folding and sorting through the additional diaper cloths and clothes he had picked up for the boy. It wasn’t a lot but it should be a decent enough rotation until he outgrew them.

By the time he finished Naruto was fast asleep, one arm tucked away under his body and the other flopped out towards Jiraiya. And he had somehow managed to wiggle himself directly into the very centre of the futon. Huffing out a silent laugh Jiraiya pulled off his day's clothing, changing into a long loose nightshirt, and curled himself onto the futon around the small boy as best he could.

As with most nights, he stayed awake thinking for far past the time he closed his eyes and evened his breathing out into a slow rhythmic march.

Sakumo had been a friend, in loose terms; close enough Jiraiya had mourned for him and for his failure in not being there for him against the villages' hatred. It annoyed him that he had forgotten Kakashi was so young, but seeing as he hadn’t been in the village for years at a time- even 14 years ago- he supposed it may have been forgivable. Maybe.

Itachi, he was fairly sure, was the prodigy Uchiha that Hiruzen had sent him news about. It showed in the way the child held himself, strict and direct. But Jiraiya couldn’t shake the thought that he couldn’t have been more than 5. No child should have to be a prodigy at 5, especially at the tail end of a war, they didn’t need to be. They were too squishy, too malleable. It rubbed him the wrong way, made him fear for the boy's future, and question his own words to the child about his father's pride.

The two topics chased themselves around in his head for hours, biting off other topics as if they could somehow all relate back to Kakashi and Itachi. It wasn’t the worst obsession he had been kept awake by, he was glad- deep in his stomach- that his mind had chosen them to focus on, instead of the fact he was now the last Sannin loyal to Konoha, and he had dismissed himself from duty.

When the thought tried to fully form, he focused his mind back onto Itachi. Worrying about a child much easier than grappling with that wound, that pulled and ached like a personal failing he could never fix. Wrapped around Naruto the way he was, he would rather worry about his failings of consideration and memory. Not his failings as a teammate and friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to let me know about any spelling mistakes. If an age seems wrong so far it's because I didn't care to look it up, and sometimes I'm very lazy; other times I read a paragraph into someone's Wikia page and proceed to scream on my Tumblr (@narutomaki) about how fucking shit the timeline is. That being said I think Hana's age is wrong, and so will some characters in the next chapter; don't worry about it. If it bugs you that much... IDK what to tell you other than good for you for having passion.  
> Thank you for reading! Ch. 4 is in the works, so we're at least getting that far with this.  
> EDIT: I remembered what I forgot before; I haven't seen the whole anime or read the entire manga or extended materials so most of my knowledge of stuff past the 300 episodes in Shippuden comes from a friend, the wikia, and posts I see! When I find out new stuff I have to decide between incorporating it or ignoring it- so it will like. 100% effect the flow sometimes and I apologize for that!


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto was crying. Jiraiya missed being slapped awake the second he opened his eyes, watching Naruto squirm and wail at his side. Still half asleep he lifted himself up to do a quick check; it was still dark out, no one else was in the room, Naruto looked uninjured, and his diaper wasn’t soiled. By the time he could surmise something else was distressing Naruto he was fully awake with the boy tucked close to his chest, stroking the boys small face and muttering soft low words of meaningless comfort.

The sun was rising before Naruto calmed down, huffing pitifully and clinging tightly to Jiraiya’s shirt. “Did I scare you? You’ve never woken up with someone so close, huh?” His heart ached almost as much as his head did, but they were both awake now, and Naruto was calm enough to move and feed.

He stood, slowly, not wanting Naruto to become unsettled again and wandered his way to the kitchen. Naruto had enough teeth to start eating solids, and even if he was more advanced in that department than most 6-month-old’s one of the development books he had flipped through while Kakashi had been gone the day before had said he should have been starting on puree’s and solids any way. Which meant Jiraiya had to learn to make baby food. 

The cook book was easy enough to understand, thankfully, and very short. While wandering in and out of stores yesterday a mother had actually passed it to him, telling him quietly how her mother had given it to her when her baby had been born; but she had it memorized before the child was even old enough to use it. He had stupidly insisted on paying her, and had almost caused a scene in the store before coming to his senses and promising her a favour instead. She had simply smiled, paid for her child’s clothing, and left before he could ask for her name.

The issue came in trying to convince Naruto to let go long enough that he could get the sling wrapped around them both. Naruto did not want this. Naruto made it very evident he did not want this when he opened his mouth and started wailing again. Jiraiya dropped the sling on the counter, tucked Naruto under one arm, and gave up. Mixing up a bottle of formula instead. His own eyes watering as he tried to sooth Naruto long enough just to get him to drink.

\--

The first furniture delivery arrived at the same time as a single Genin did. Jiraiya paid for the delivery and the runner thanked him profusely, eyes wide in awe, before he came back to himself and left.

“Hello, my name’s Uchiha Shisui, my sensei sent me to help you.” He dipped into a low bow, rising and standing at attention; waiting for some sort of reprisal for being sent along alone, Jiraiya supposed.

“Thank-you for coming.” Jiraiya bowed in return, impatience and disappointment wriggling in his gut. Teamwork and friendships are the heart of the will of fire my ass old man. “This is the first delivery today, but I'm expecting a few more, if you don’t have to be anywhere else.” 

“No, sir, the mission assignment read that you would be assistance for the whole day and tomorrow.” Jiraiya hummed, sketching a tired smile at the teen. “I’ll get started than?”

“Of course, if you need anything just shout.” Shisui nodded, taking off the tag from the store to read it’s name and instructions. Barely even looking up as Jiraiya retreated back into the house. “You were very well behaved, Naruto, thank-you.” The child made some soft noises, tired from his crying and seemingly settling into a better mood as Jiraiya moved through the house to the back stoop, keeping and open ear in the Genin’s direction as he worked solo to put the shelving together in the main room where he had dragged it to.

A quick summons later and Shima was flapping her small hands around in excited greeting to the small human. “Gamakichi was telling me you have quiet the strength little one! Oh, Jiraiya boy I was so happy when they told me! I can even forgive you for not telling me in person, he seems like he’s a little handful!” She cooed up into the bewildered child's face from where he was on Jiraiya's leg, babbling in response to her talking and moving.

“It was more getting everything in order on such short notice, Shima. He was upset this morning, though.” Shima hummed in distracted agreement as she let Naruto pull and pinch her hands, smile bright and delighted in the face of a new child in the family.

“How long have you had him?” She asked, looking up at her disciple without making Naruto stop his exploration, only pulling slightly when he tried to lean forward and force her hand in his mouth.

“Two days? Give or take a couple hours.” He muttered, amused as Naruto's huffing delight at a new creature to explore. A toad obviously not as scary in his mind as the humans around him were, Jiraiya didn’t think he would need to be concerned though. There were time’s he felt more than the same way.

“That’s not too long, he’s adjusting well I hope?” Jiraiya nodded, and she finally pulled her hands back from Naruto's, digging around in her high collar and pulling out a blunted orange stick to replace them. The end was immediately in his mouth, she laughed. “But I imagine you need help with something more serious than distraction if you called me instead of the boys.”

Jiraiya nodded, stomach tensing as he made the request. “I was wondering if you had a spare wash bin, the shop was closed yesterday and until either one of his baby sitters comes back or he agrees to the sling there’s not much I can do.” Shima nodded seriously, thinking for a long moment with her hand running over her chin.

“I should have one, and some toys suitable for human babies around somewhere. At least nothing he can hurt himself on, that is.” She smiled at the child once more, nodded seriously to Jiraiya, and than snapped her fingers and vanished.

“Not looking forward to getting your diapers out of the sealing scroll, Naruto.” The baby hummed and babbled, taking the orange rod and bringing it down full force on Jiraiya’s kneecap. 

The cessation of movement in the house and years of tolerating minor pain kept Jiraiya from screaming a curse. 

“Do I just...” He caught the broken off mutter, heard Shisui’s purposefully noticeable footsteps padding across the floorboards, and rose to meet the boy halfway. “Oh! The shelves are done, I was wondering where you wanted them, sir?”

“Bah, where ever you finished building them is fine. Thanks a lot, kid. Next two shipments should get here around the same time, but it will be a half hour about it you want to take a break?” Shisui looked disoriented at the offer, likely used to being worked to the bone. “Oh don’t look like that, years on the road I’m just grateful to finally have some trusted paid help around here.”

“If you don’t mind, I would like to go to my house for a moment?” The teens voice was less timid now, whatever hero worship or exhaustion he had been suffering from dissipating in the face of Jiraiya’s casual attitude.

“Sure, it’s not far, knock yourself out.” Shisui sketched a quick but appropriate bow, before turning and taking off in the same direction Itachi had the night before in a swirl of leaves. “Interesting lot, these Uchiha brats. Aren’t they?” Naruto was perched against his side, mouth open with one hand reaching down as he stared at the settling dust.

Shisui came back just as the two carts were pulling back out down the narrow entrance path, a bag balanced over his shoulder, looking more brazen than he had before he left. Shima had dropped a bag of toys and the wash bin in the back before meandering off to evaluate the water on the property, ranting about how serious a job it was for her to do. Jiraiya could only appreciate it, knowing better than to try and talk her down from helping when she wanted to.

“I asked my mother for some stuff for the kid!” He looked proud of himself as he tugged the bag over in front of him, handing it over with two hands so that Jiraiya could look over the contents, Naruto babbling away in the grass on a blanket beside his feet. “She was very happy to help, sir, I hope you can accept.” The teen bowed before turning and starting the process of moving the packages inside so that he could assemble the next batch.

“Thank you very much, Shisui, pass my thanks along to your mother and family as well when you return again.” Jiraiya said as the boy passed to get another box.

“Of course, sir! Will do!” 

Jiraiya opened the bag and rummaged around, on top were two bento boxes of food labelled with ingredients and preparation instructions written with a quick hand; and below them a downy soft blanket with a faded Uchiha crest stitched onto the corner, the thread colours fading with age. An ache he had refused to think about eased in his chest, these people would not hate their presence, and it had been near irrational to believe so. Whatever hatred they may hold for what Naruto was got overridden in the reality of a child in need so close to them.

He could have teared up, if he were still prone to such things. 

Wrapped up in the blanket were three simple thick paged books, a short note on top proclaiming them well loved and ready to be passed on for when the baby was ready. It occurred to him that perhaps they didn’t know it was Naruto with him, but dismissed that notion as unimportant. The Uchiha were a proud clan, steeped in tradition and used to hiding a bone deep hatred, even if they knew they would think only for a moment before deciding to help. Even if only to stand in their beliefs.

Putting everything back into the bag he placed it just in the door behind his, watching as Shisui laid out some boards and fussed with the smaller parts, before turning his attention back on his godson. 

Naruto had his fist clamped around a clump of clover and was tugging this way and that unable to rip up the green without any leverage, and his other fist was shoved part way into his mouth. Jiraiya leaned his head on his hand and smiled. 

Feeling for Shima’s chakra around the house and settling in even more when he felt her still in the side garden, the soft tickle of her nature chakra usage putting his mind at ease even more. After Naruto had settled down it had been easy enough for get breakfast into him, and with the baby food Shisui’s mother had given them Naruto should have an interesting lunch before he went down for a nap. For now he simply let the boy huff and roll onto his back on the blanket to stare up into the trees and sky, wide eyes round and soft as he wiggled and popped his hand out of his mouth to wave it around in the air.

Letting his mind drift for a moment he stared around at the garden, over grown in places where the natural grass and weeds grew taller. He would have to tend to that, at some point. When he felt more secure turning his back on his godson maybe he would. An excited squeal startled him and his chakra pinpoint focused to protect Naruto; before Jiraiya could even find what had caused the noise.

Standing still in the driveway Uchiha Mikoto stood serenely still, pulling her eyes from the flailing child for a moment, to the Sannin on the front step. On her back in an onbuhimo Sasuke head turned to stare at the other infant over his mothers shoulder, but was otherwise seemingly unconcerned with Naruto's flailing and laughing shrieks. Itachi smiled apologetically at his mothers side, hands twisted in front of him.

“Ah,” Jiraiya said, smartly. He stood and bowed in greeting, picking Naruto up from the shade, the flailing calming down and turning into an excited reaching towards the Uchiha family as the Sannin walked to greet them. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Itachi. You must be Uchiha Mikoto?”

She smiled, polite and demure. “That I am, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Toad Sage, Jiraiya of the Sannin.” She gave a small bow in return, not wanting to upset the infant in the sling on her back. “My son was telling me how he came to lend you a hand yesterday, and I figured I would come along today when I could to see if you need a mothers advice.” Her smile stuck, her eyes moving from Jiraiya's when she was done talking, she moved closer slowly and cooes softly over Naruto as the boy grabbed at her finger and held on for dear life.

“I appreciate it beyond words, Mikoto. You were... a friend of Kushina’s, correct?” The woman smiled sadly and nodded, not bothering to try and escape Naruto's grip while she responded.

“I was. I tried to petition to take Naruto in when he was left alone, but the Hokage... didn’t allow it.” She finished, keeping the Uchiha rage tucked politely in the corners of her words and the ends of her smile. “I am glad to have the ability to come see him, it feels like not even a day has passed, but they’re both already so old.”

The man nodded, at a loss for words in his own simmering temper as Mikoto pulled slowly out of Narutos grip and nodded toward the house. “Oh, yes, of course. You’re more than welcome to join me and Naruto for lunch, one of your cousins is actually helping me out right now with furniture.”

Itachi looked up at the, interest in his eyes on his otherwise neutral face. “Really? Mother can we stay for lunch?” Mikoto nodded, pleased with her sons excitement, and happy to urge it on.

“Thank you for extended the offer, Jiraiya, I will be happy to help with preparation if you need it.” Jiraiya ran over what was left of yesterday trip, there was no meat so he hoped the would be alright with that, but he should be able to manage on his own with the gifts from Shisui's mother. He opened his mouth to say so when Shisui popped up into the door, mouth open halfway through saying something when Shima popped up beside him and continued whatever lecture he had been trying to run away from.

Sometimes Jiraiya felt like his life was a very poorly coordinated comedy. 

“Jiraiya boy I know you have company, but a young man simply should have more tact than to call a summons something so crass.”

Before he could respond Mikoto leveled the wilting Shisui with a raised eyebrow. “What did he call you, ma’am?”

“Oh I couldn’t repeat it, ask him if you must know. I have work to get back to.” She bowed stoically before storming off in a huff, her feet flapping against the floor with an echoing slap.

“Shisui?”

“Yes, auntie?”

“What did you call her?” The boy winced, and Jiraiya frowned in sympathy. Shima was many good things to him, but she was a little touchy about any insinuation that-

“A... common toad.” Mikoto’s face didn’t move but Jiraiya heard her breathy laugh of disbelief, and looked heavenward.

“Sorry kid, summons can be a bit sensitive about all that.” Jiraiya eased.

“I know that now, I just didn’t connect the dots until after I’d said it.” Shisui defended weakly before brilliantly changing the topic. “Any way the chabudai is assembled, and I made sure the tea box was put together well and put it on the counter. Is there anything else coming today, sir?” 

Jiraiya smiled and nodded. “Sorry but I have a couple more things coming, only one thing more today and it should be here soon. Tomorrow it’s just a closet and chest, though, and both should come with less work to be done than the shelving and table.” Shisui relaxed and smiled, giving a short bow before waiting a moment, and than awkwardly stepping out of the way to let them all into the house past him.

Mikoto looked around politely, humming with neither approval of disapproval as she made her way with Jiraiya and the babies to the kitchen, Shisui and Itachi left behind to entertain themselves while she helped Jiraiya cook; whether he wanted her to or not. Jiraiya felt it was a better idea to not argue with a woman who had been one of Kushina’s closest friends, than worry about the propriety of an Uchiha woman cooking in a strangers home.

As they entered the kitchen Jiraiya winced, he hadn't cleaned up the mess from breakfast at all and one of Naruto's new bottles was sitting dirty by the sink; with his onbuhimo carrier draped halfway into the thankfully empty basin. Mikoto, bless her heart, said nothing about the disarray and just loosely picked up the onbuhimo by its straps.

"I take it this didn't go to well this morning?" Jiraiya winced again, cradling Naruto close on his hip.

"No, we uh… had a bad scare this morning when we woke up." He said vaguely, remembering how long Naruto had cried and clung to him; seeming to switch between fear and desperation every few moments. 

Mikoto's eyebrows drew down and she said, "I don't want to press the issue if it's a private matter of security, but the Clan would be happy to assist you."

Jiraiya almost laughed. "Sorry, I'm just used to being cagey. No, he isn't used to sleeping next to anyone, and I assume I scared him half to death by sharing the futon with him last night." Mikoto nodded in understanding even as her eyes shaded again in contained fury.

"The offer still stands. We… we were told we couldn't be there for him after… after. But we were told nothing about being by you." She smiled, edged with anger and hope.

"Thank you." Jiraiya said, pushing emphasis into his words. "Thank you so much Mikoto."  
She nodded, blinking back tears of emotion and shaking her head lightly, rousing Sasuke's attention. "Let me help you get this on at least than."

Sasuke lifted and turned his head to stare at Naruto as Mikoto helped distract him long enough to have him slid into place through the shoulder straps of the onbuhimo, holding Naruto's hands and saying "wheee" as Jiraiya lifted and adjusted him so that his chin rested shoulder height on Jiraiya's back. Sasuke's big dark eyes tracked the movements with quiet fascination and he made a soft noise and reached forward over his mum's arm to reach for him, keeping up a quiet mumbling tirade as Mikoto laughed and pinched his pudgy fingers softly between her own, holding his hand.

"Thank you, I don't think I ever would have gotten him in without your help. " Jiraiya said as he placed the two bento boxes of baby food on the counter and pushed the rest of the gifts aside for later sorting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's been a little bit, I have chapter 5 written and chapter 6 started but I'm going to go back and re-read the whole fic because I have no idea what I was doing anymore. Hope someone likes it though <3  
> Thank-you for the lovely people that have commented and read and kudos..ded... it means a lot even if I forgot about this fic for a bit due to some... yknow! Life events! :-)
> 
> Edit: fixed some minor grammer and pacing things, lmao


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and update is dedicated to @Captain_Konami_Code, thank-you so much for your lovely comment it drove me to write this and gave me energy to keep going with this fic.  
> On another note if there are inconsistencies with canon it's mostly because I never actually finished Naruto but ALSO because I'm gay and I this is my fic so I can do what I want. Beyond the obvious changes for my comfort in side characters ages and such; because I actually look that stuff up. 
> 
> Also don't mind the added tag, as I'm writing chapter 6 it's getting away from me a bit and I'm exploring the more emotionally damaging sides of Jiraiya being who he is. Also the end of this chapter.....

Lunch was a simple and efficient affair, Mikoto walking him kindly and strictly through shortcuts and portions for Naruto’s food.

"Of course always try and feed him until he won't take anymore, but with his age and weight about this much every meal is fine." She said, voice soft and stern in only a way an experienced parents could be, as she portioned out the children’s food onto the small plates.

"How will I know he's full?" Mikoto just gave him a soft pitying pat on the arm with an accompanying smile, before gathering up half the dishes; leaving Jiraiya to follow with the rest.

Naruto cooed happily as Mikoto helped Jiraiya guide him down from Jiraiya’s back, still half in the onbuhimo as he was settled onto Jiraiya’s lap. Itachi and Shisui took the empty places at the table, Itachi looking at his mother until she seemed to give him some signal.

"Thank you for the food." They all chimed at the same time, a welcome warmth he had forgotten long ago settling into his bones with the comfort of a meal shared with trusted people.

Jiraiya fed Naruto between bites of his own lunch, the new texture fascinating the child, and as Mikoto had warned half of it ended up smeared across his mouth as he tested how to chew and swallow it, giggling and laughing in delight at the new experience. Thankfully feeding off the calm energy in the room, and remaining gleeful through the whole affair. 

Itachi, though, was fascinating to observe; as he kept a keen eye on Sasuke and Mikoto, miming his mother's strict posture and eating only when she did barely a second behind on copying her precise motions. Shisui seemed to be watching as well, and shared an amused glance with Jiraiya whenever they made eye contact, and other than Naruto's laughter and babbling it was a quiet event overall.

When they were done Jiraiya cleared the table, leaving a full and sleepy Naruto with a smiling Mikoto; who had asked to watch him to see how he would react being separated from him for however long it took him to clean up. Reassuring him when he fretted that she knew very well what she was getting in to, and that she would bring Naruto to him if he started to wake up and fuss about his absence.

He methodically washed the dishes, the soft soapy cloth squeaking against the porcelain dining ware. The repetitive easy movements let his mind wander, focusing for the first time on the more detailed questions of his life now. 

He had been, to the best of his knowledge, formally dismissed from active duty; but he wondered idly if his old teacher had kept his name open in the roster. He hoped not, although he knew it was sensible to do so, until Naruto was at an age he could care for himself Jiraiya was essentially useless in the village, and his summoning’s rarely liked being called on to act as go-betweens- always saying he should have signed a contract with another family if he really needed someone for stealth. As he thought of her Shima waddled into the kitchen, a beaming smile on her face as she leapt up onto the counter beside him

“Everything looks good, my boy. The water out back connects to an underground stream, and resurfaces in a river about a dozen miles into the woods.” She paused, hopping over the sink to inspect the cleaned dishware as she continued, “There some scent of snake but that’s really to be expected, what surprised me is that in these woods they seem to be the predominant predator. Once I step off the property I can smell wild dogs and foxes and such, but they seem to draw a strict border around this house as well as the Uchiha compound.”

Jiraiya’s brows drew down, that was interesting, it would make sense to some degree if- he shook himself, not wanting his mind to wander down toward a losing battle of curiosity. It would be just another mystery to look into once Naruto was a little older, for now he would just have to make sure the grass on their direct property was well and truly clear; to ensure Naruto's little hands didn’t wander too close to any dens. 

“Anything else?” Shima hummed and sat on the edge, likely thinking over what Jiraiya would care to know and what he would dismiss.

“The pond isn’t good for fishing, everything that can get in there it too small to really act as a meal. There is a family of ducks that looks to be intent on moving in despite the threat, so it may be advantageous to set them up something- see if you can raise them and get fresh eggs.” The way she looked up to him and smiled made him think that was more of a suggestion for her and her husband, but Jiraiya nodded and hummed. It wasn’t an uncommon practice per-say, although with most families in the village or cities most opted to get fresh eggs from neighbours or farmers with hens. “Think on it, at least. But the report is mostly good for now; the water is clean and suitable for a well setup if you want one built. Adding more indoor running water off of it may also not be a bad idea for when Naruto is learning to use a bathroom, and for more convenient bathing.” 

“I agree.” He laughed under his breath and drained the water from the sink. It was an old home and even the tap looked to be a new addition when he had checked the framing with a closer eye while cleaning. “I’ll see what I can do; thank you Shima, I really do appreciate it.” The Toad Mother beamed up at him, hopping to his shoulder to lean against his cheek in a hug and kiss before poofing away with a soft ‘good-bye’.

Returning to the dining room Jiraiya smiled, Naruto was in Mikoto’s lap still, fighting off sleep as he attempted to reach Sasuke’s dangling hand. Both boys lifted their heads when he made a re-entrance and Mikoto gave him a warm smile.

Taking Naruto with no fuss the baby settled almost immediately in his arms, eyes drooping and sleep taking him now that there was no funny distraction to keep it away.

“Thank you, Mikoto, your assistance really does mean a lot.” He gave a slow deep bow, smiling genuinely at her as she waved a dismissive hand.

“He would have been family, it’s the least I can do to be in his life now.” Her smile took on a sad edge, and the words drove a sharp edge into the buried grief they shared. After a moment of silence to compose themselves Mikoto stood, adjusting the tie around her waist. “I should see myself out now, the boys are working on your last delivery outside; but Sasuke should get home to take his own nap.”

They walked to the door together and Shisui’s head flew up so fast Jiraiya thought he would hit his head on the beam he was under. Itachi looked at his mother, than at Jiraiya before looking back at his cousin disapprovingly.

“Mother would never do that, and- even if you’re right- every man has to have more dignity than to say things like that to a married woman.” Jiraiya groaned, horrified with sudden understanding he brought a hand to his face to rub at his nose as Mikoto’s face transformed into an alarming shade of anger, pacing forward to grip at Shisui’s ear even as the boy yelped and tried to scramble away.

“What were you saying to my son?” She hissed, for a moment Jiraiya wondered if it was worth it to be present in this plane of existence at all as she repeated the question. 

“I just- he’s- ow Aunt Mikoto, that hurts!” She let go, shaking herself and muttering a soft apology as she smoothed a gentle touch across the side of his head; before putting her fists on her hips and staring the Genin down.   
“There’s just... rumours okay! About him that... it would be inappropriate to leave him alone with any woman for even a moment.”

Maybe that cover was too good, too deep of a well to dig himself into. Tsunade had always said it would come back to haunt him when he least expected it, and he supposed she was right; this was the last way he had been expecting this to happen.

“Shisui!” Mikoto hissed, unimpressed. “Jiraiya is a well respected member of our village, and you can at least do him the honour of not spreading such ugly rumours!” Shisui shrunk, rubbing his ear and murmuring halfhearted apologies. Jiraiya shoved aside the horror at the situation and stepped in to hopefully save the boy a repeat experience once his own mother heard what he has said.

“Mikoto, it’s fine, really.” He began, voice withering as she rounded the stern look on him instead. “I’m-” he cleared his throat, Naruto shifting against his chest, but blessedly staying asleep despite the commotion. “It was something I decided when I was young and it... got out of hand, so I wouldn’t say it is a disservice to my image to talk about the... way I have acted toward women.” His stilted speech dragged on, and he rubbed at the back of his neck in embarrassment. “It was a disservice to myself, and I went against the advice of people smarter than me in using it as cover in some of the ways I have.”

“It’s an act!?” Shisui squawked, obviously not as cowed by his aunt’s demeanour as he had seemed to be, only looking pitifully bashful when Mikoto hissed something at him.

“To a degree, yes. It’s easy enough to get people to discount and discredit your abilities when they think they just have to shove a, uhm, beautiful lady in front of you to get what they want.” He motioned with his free hand, his face twisted up in an awkward grimace as Shisui looked on with some sort of amazement.

“That’s not what I heard.” The Genin said.

“And that would be the point, now wouldn’t it.” Mikoto filled in on his behalf, as he tried to squash the twisting shame in his gut, only just holding back on rolling her eyes when she noticed Itachi’s keen stare, adjusting her posture into a more composed one, visibly calming herself for her sons benefit. “If everyone thinks the behaviour is so easily manipulated; than they will try and use it. Either to take attention away from themselves or to try and get information out of him. I also know very well how people see his interactions with women, and might I say, Toad Sage, that you have, exceeded my expectations on just how much of it is an act.”

“Uh.” Jiraiya said, feeling just oh-so intelligent, closing his mouth around any sort of reply and settling instead for an awkwardly grateful smile. Mikoto laughed daintily, almost visibly restraining an eye-roll. They said another quick good-bye, before heading off down the path towards home.

When they were out of sight Shisui caught his eye and shrunk a little bit. “I guess I should have known that, huh?” He muttered, picking a screw driver and starting back in on the work, face flushed a little in embarrassment. 

“No, no, that’s fine. It’s how I wanted it for a long while, it’s easier if you can convince even yourself it’s the truth.” He winced at the memory of trying to convince Tsunade it was fake, he had wanted at least them to believe him; believe who he was at heart, but what had that meant? In the end. He mentally shook himself, trying to reign in his melancholy before it showed on his face. “It really is okay, kid, it is also not a problem that you know the truth now so don’t fret about that either. I wouldn’t recommend it though; it made me a real ass hole sometimes.” He paused, trying to orient himself back in the present moment. “Just put that on the deck when you’re done and report back to your Jounin sensei or the administrative office.”  
Shisui nodded at Jiraiya’s retreating back, waiting until he thought the old man was out of ear shot before groaning and hitting his head lightly against the frame, he was not looking forward to the family using this to tease him.

\--

Jiraiya laid Naruto down, easing him slowly out of his arms and onto the futon, covering him with one of the small baby blankets he had bought and making sure the boy was well and truly asleep before summoning the Gama brothers; smiling softly when they both lit up and settled near Naruto to watch over him. The fact that his summoning’s seemed to adore the child brought a light and easy joy to his chest, chasing away the grief that threatened to overwhelm him as regrets and losses danced a taunting rhythm through his mind.

Walking out of the room and onto the deck he grabbed the bags Kosuke had retrieved for him before he had returned, thanking the toad silently as he slung them over his shoulder and paced away into the forest, scanning his surroundings to assess the length of the truth of Shima’s words. Finding the dens was easy enough, lurking in the trees and marking on a spare scroll the path he was taking and the location of each visible hole or disturbed soil. The animal life was lacking, there were plenty of birds, and mostly ones that lived only in the trees, but there was an occasional nest he was sure belonged to more ground hunting species. 

However, the lack of animal like remained disturbing to an unnatural degree, making his stomach unsettled to think about the more sinister implications. He was positive the Uchiha weren’t fans of snakes to this degree; and the lack of variation in the ones he could catch glimpses of brought to his mind the terrifying thought that he could be spying here. Spying on the Uchiha family. Jiraiya pulled his lips back in a small hidden snarl as he watched a white snake grapple with a mouse. The ecosystem alone was in threat enough to validate bringing this to the attention of the clan without mentioning any suspicions of a more sever nature and setting off any alerting system Orochimaru may have. He couldn’t find a single clearing inside the radius that didn’t have at least one den. It made his stomach curdle, so he turned and headed back home; convincing himself it was to think, but knowing in his heart it was to avoid facing the extent of his once friends decline. 

Stopping on the way to observe the duck family Shima had mentioned; it was really just one breeding pair with two almost mature children. But that could be improved, especially if the species had other nesting pairs in Konoha; he knew some things of animal handling. It should also prove easy enough to herd them to the pond once he had gotten some help. He was about to leave when he saw a snake lunge out of the grass, jaws spread wide as it dove for the ducks legs. His hand was on a kunai in an instant to hopefully them; when the duck that the snake has chosen to target fluttered frenzied up into the air before slamming back down onto the small white snake; gripping it in place with the weight of it’s body, and tearing at it’s head with determined ferocity.

So; that’s what Shima had meant by determined. Disgusting, but it eased his worries enough that he pocketed his weapon and finished the run back home. Pulled from his spiralling thoughts of loss and back into plans for the march ever forward.

\----

Shadows bent around him, twisting and devouring his form in a way that would have set a more moral man on edge, but simply eased him into the knowledge that his call was being acknowledged. He closed his eyes into the pressing darkness and seated himself, connecting across the boundaries of reality to share the news with their Leader.

When he opened his eyes the first thing he did was smile, wide and unsettling as Leader waited silently- motionlessly- for the news to be delivered.

“Jiraiya has been disbanded from active duty.” Was perhaps the most fun way to put it; and although he knew that face would never shift, never express anything other than the blank stare that death brought, the silence was delight enough, settling with glee in the pit of Orochimaru’s stomach. 

The silence stretched on long enough that he almost gave into the impulse to laugh. “How did you come across this information?” Leader was not used to Orochimaru being blunt, which was part of the joy curling warm in his stomach, big enough news on an emotional level that he didn’t even feel regretful he could not play with his words more.

“I can bypass the villages security defences, as long as I do not interact directly with any of the citizens no one knows I have come or gone.” It was simple enough even, with Hiruzen’s senile belief that Orochimaru could change back to before paired with Danzo’s subtle shifting manipulations of various corners of their defences to suit his own spies needs made it child's play to slip in. “I was evaluating the Uchiha heir- the prodigy boy- when his mother came to collect him. I followed, naturally, as it is unlike her to take him away from his training. Jiraiya seems to have taken up property behind their compound.”

“Will that be all?” Orochimaru imagined the puppeteers face, tight and twisting, tense posture and anger swirling; the image was nearly intoxicating. 

“I do have one other related piece of news, Leader, if I may?” The dead body motioned for him to go on. “He seems to have been given custody of the Konoha jinchuriki.”

He was blasted back into his own body, the shadows snapping and twisting out of his mindscape, leaving him blinking in the filtered afternoon sun. He laughed, the sound wrenched from his body outside of his own will.

The subtle art of manipulation was a delight; but he was coming to find joy in the ways that blunt emotional news would wreck those around him. As he calmed he sighed, the normal miasma of disconnection settling back over his mind; to think of it this way would always be easier. To delight in harm should have been his modus opperndi from day one. 

Caring hurt. Made you weak. Placed traps open and easy for those around you to manipulate.

Disconnection. Hatred. The blunt and subtle ways of tearing down those around you would always, always, be safer. 

Forcing his mind further away from itself when questioning regret tried to break through he forced himself to his feet, brushing non-existent dirt from his clothing, and slipping out of the abandoned house and back into the depths of the villages forest. 

Really, Nagato should have known better than to ever show him Yahikos face.


	6. Chapter 6

When he ended up back at the house Shisui had gone home, the lot now silent and still. He did a quick check in with the gama brothers and saw them dozing next to Naruto’s still sleeping form and let out a slow relieved breath. Setting himself down on the stoop outside the door while leaving it cracked open a bit he opened his manuscript bag and started sorting through the papers. Piles forming on either side of him as he sorted coded correspondence out from his book writing, mind wandering as he settled into the easy motions.

He would have to hand the coded documents to Hiruzen in person, and his mouth tugged into a small frown. His teacher had become a mystery to him in their time apart, and one he was not happy to discover the root cause of it he ever ever did. It could simply be put down to old age and war guilt wearing down his decision making, but he had never seemed the sort of man where just his own mind would tie itself into such a mess that it contentedly allowed for mistreatment of the children under him. 

Hiruzen had always spoken so highly of the First, passion and fire in his voice as he had taught all three of them about the man and his beliefs. That fire hadn’t seemed to fade when he had taken the hat from the Second, and had remained strong through the two wars, passion hardly wavering in the face of even severe adversity. Of course, Jiraiya hadn’t been in the village for any extended period of time for over 20 years. Even when he had been a sensei himself they had taken missions outside the village for as long as he could get permission to do so, it had been easy then. Constant fighting allowing for simple missions to small villages to provide relief, or the more dangerous ones they had taken later on where Minato had first started developing and improving the jutsu’s of the Second.

Perhaps it had been Minato’s death, the final straw that had made it so Hiruzen thought it acceptable to have Kakashi be an ANBU captain at just 15, he had known Minato had put Kakashi in the ANBU young but with time slipping away he had forgotten how young he was; and now he was struggling to figure out what pressures had made the decision. Jiraiya wishes he could convince himself that his students death was all there was to it in the Third’s decisions.

When all the papers rested at his side in neat piles he packed them each up, stowing them both back away in discreet scrolls. His mind continued to wander, to dig, trying it’s best to track down what whispers in his ear would turn his respected teacher and student into someone who activated Jiraiya’s base angers whenever he thought about them. Crossing his legs beneath each other he took deep calming breaths, letting the evening air settle his mind.

Naruto would likely be waking up soon, he had slept for a long while, and it wouldn’t surprise the man if Naruto’s body didn’t deem that enough until he tired himself out again. The setting sun lit up the area around him in a warm orange glow, and he pulled his pipe from the other bag beside him, tapping down some tobacco and lighting it with a match. Waving it to put it out he leaned his head back to stare at the darkening sky.

Tsunade would know what to do. Wouldn’t hold herself back in her anger, and her creed to protect those in needs. Would speak her mind with her fists to both men, unlike him. He pulled a deep drag off his pipe and wondered where she was now. Gambling her sorrow away was a safe assumption, he almost felt jealous of her for finding a way out of it all, a way to bury the sorrow and grief so that she would never have to face it head on. If she were here Hiruzen would have been laid flat before he could even speak. Jiraiya let our a humourless laugh, closing his eyes and spiralling deeper into his own mind.

Orochimaru. Jiraiya didn’t often try to spend a lot of brain power thinking about the man who had betrayed them all, but now he couldn’t put off thoughts of him any longer. Not with his summons burrowing in the earth beneath them all, providing who knows what kind of intelligence and access to the village. He let out a soft shiver, it wasn’t a pleasant thought, knowing Orochimaru knew where he was and why. The guilt over not being here, not knowing what had caused the decent into bitter apathy and wilful child experimentation, was almost all consuming when he focused onto it. Getting under his skin and trying to force him to evaluate everything his ex-comrade had ever said to him.

He opened his eyes, tracing over the visible constellations, trying to pull himself back into the moment and toward actual action and planning. Wanting his thoughts to be useful instead of pulling and tugging him down into despair and darkness as they were. Luckily where he failed himself a soft snuffling cry broke him out of his mind and into action, tapping out his pipe he pulled himself up and into the room, lifting Naruto into his arms as Gamakichi and Gamatatsu barely managed to rouse themselves before Naruto was calmed once more, clutching to Jiraiya's shirt and whimpering tiredly.

“It’s okay boys, you can keep sleeping.” The brother’s eyes slipped shut once more, and Jiraiya hoped they wouldn’t get in trouble for staying in this realm to sleep. Shima was lenient with them when she knew they were doing something for Jiraiya, so he hoped they would be smart enough to mention their task before telling her how weird it was to sleep in the human realm.

He cleaned and changed Naruto’s diaper quickly, putting it to the side to be washed before easing them both out the door and onto the stoop again as soft little lights blinked in the yard. His mind soothed, as Naruto cooed curiously, reaching out to grab at a passing firefly as it floated near them.

“Those are called fireflies, kiddo. They light up their butts and wiggle around at night.” Naruto cooed, wriggling in Jiraiya's grip. Pulling his shirt off with now practised motions he settled Naruto down on the wood beside him onto it, placing a gentle hand on his back as Naruto rolled over to watch with wide eyes as the bugs blinked across the grass. As they sat and watched them together Jiraiya smiled, a bitter nostalgia gripping his chest as he remembered sitting with his team and watching them flicker during the last weeks of summer. Things had been easy then, peaceful and simple, despite knowing he would fight in a war when he came to an able age. He had been filled with the blindness of youth; where everything would stay the same forever, and he wouldn’t be mourning the lost and the dead at 38 alone with only his orphan godson for company.

Naruto seemed to sense the change in his mood as he started sniffling, hoping to stave off a fit of crying Jiraiya picked Naruto up and held him close, breathing in deep and slow to ground himself as he rocked the upset child back and fourth in slow steady motions.

“I’m so sorry, Naruto. I’m so sorry.”

\--

Jiraiya was woken the next morning by a soft knocking at the front door. Blinking dry sleep from his eyes he stood, shaking his hair out and combing through it with his fingers before picking a still sleepy Naruto up as the small child blinked himself awake, starting to fuss when Jiraiya’s hold loosened to check his diaper. When the knock came again he sighed and turned to go answer it, hitching Naruto up to his chest knowing the boy was good for the time being.

It was well past when he would usually wake up; but as the night had dragged on Jiraiya had spiralled deeper into his own mind as Naruto clutched to his undershirt and cried on and off until he had fallen into a fitful sleep in Jiraiya’s arms, and he himself had only managed to force himself to sleep just two hours beforehand as the sun had peaked over the horizon, dismissing the brothers as he had laid down to sleep.

Scrubbing his face and clearing sleep from his throat he opened the door, giving a tired smiled to Shisui as the young teen waved awkwardly in greeting. "Did I come too early?" he asked, shifting from foot to foot as he waited for Jiraiya to respond.

"Hm?” He shook himself in his mind, trying to pull himself into the present moment, very aware that he was acting abnormal in taking so long to answer Shisui’s question. “No, Naruto and I just had a rough night." Shisui sucked on his cheek as he nodded, casting a nervous glace over his shoulder at the delivery already sitting there, his eyebrows drawn down in only a small movement; but enough of a motion that even in his fog Jiraiya was noticing.

"I… just wanted to make sure you were awake before I started work, sir." He explained, falling back on respect in his uncertainty to how he had been behaving in front of his senior. Jiraiya ignored the fact the package was already opened, embarrassed the arrival of the package and Shisui hadn’t been enough on it’s own to wake him up.

"Of course. Get to it, kid." He left the door open as he walked away, keeping an ear open as Shisui stepped down, being louder than he may have been before as he worked- as loud as an average ninja would have had to force himself to be for a civilian. Jiraiya pulled a face, but thought it was a fair action, someone like him in a fog could pose a very serious threat if they were prone to outbursts when startled; it wasn’t worth the embarrassment and energy to explain to Shisui that he wasn’t one of them.

As they walked into the kitchen Naruto started fussing, pulling at the tangles in Jiraiya's hair as he got breakfast ready, putting on a small smile to try and ease the child’s mind when they sat down. Feeding him went well, Naruto adapting to the solid foods as well as Jiraiya expected. Wearing about half of his breakfast, but full nonetheless. For himself all he could stomach was a tepid tea, drinking a couple cups before his stomach complained even at that. He knew he should eat, knew anyone in their right mind would sit him down and force something into him; but there was no one here who would. Jiraiya took a steadying breath, trying to stay as level headed as possible.

When he got like this he usually had the luxury of going off the grid; hiding with the toads or in a cave somewhere no one would want to go, but with Naruto propped against his shoulder it was driven home with each soft pat that he would never have that option again. He knew deep down it would be for the better, but the jealousy he had felt for Tsunade last night roared its ugly head again even as he tried to focus on the more pressing issues. The present moment slipping through his hands like sand, the harder he tried to hold onto time the faster it seemed to stream away from him.

It must have been around noon that it became apparent Shisui had definitely picked up on his not-so-subtle slip into a depressive state when Mikoto’s shadow blocked out the sun he had been sitting in on the back stoop, staring blankly at Naruto as the child babbled happily up and down at the sky and grass.

"Up." He blinked, staring up into her frowning face before sighing and standing, moving forward to make to grab his godson when he saw Itachi already there; making a visible effort to not look Jiraiya’s way. "Inside." She said, motioning into the house behind them.

"What is-" He started, wincing at how dry his throat was.

"Jiraiya." Although softer the tone still left no room for argument, and he allowed himself to be bustled inside. More voices slowly registering as they filtered in from the front garden.

"Hana's here?" He asked, disorientation overwhelming him for a small moment.

"She stopped by to check on Naruto, Shisui's running interception for you." Jiraiya hummed and let Mikoto sit him down, taking the tea she offered him and waiting for her to sit as well before speaking.

"Can I ask now what's going on?"

"Of course, Shisui got worried and came to get me after breakfast, Sasuke's with his aunt right now, I’m sorry I couldn’t make my way over sooner." There we a small stretch of silence and she prepared her own tea. "Usually when I have these conversations it’s with other mothers, but I was hoping I could help you regardless."

"I… I'll be fine by tomorrow, you didn't have to do this…" he trailed off, listening to Hana outside cheering. Itachi must have gone around to the front with Naruto.

"Jiraiya." He looked at her, trying desperately to activate something in his mind to lessen her obvious worry, to at least appear to be better off than she had the obvious knowledge he was. "I may not be a healer, but I'm a clan head, and certain duties follow that. When a new mother suffers from postpartum depression it doesn't just go away, she isn’t just better the next day. And when a ninja is dismissed or suffers from post traumatic stress symptoms on the job; the symptoms don't vanish overnight. As the clan head it's part of my job to make sure each member of my extended family is seen to in a way that will most fully benefit their healing."

"But- now I don't know if you’ve noticed Mikoto- but I'm not an Uchiha." He said, humour failing in effect when she just raised an eyebrow at him in flat disappointment.

"You may as well be." Something stabbed into his chest and he gripped the cup in shame, biting his tongue to keep from saying anything else stupid. "Jiraiya, I'm not always the most delicate in these conversations because, as I said, I'm no healer. But if you need me to arrange for one to see you on your behalf there are many who would be able to lend a discreet hand."

"I'll-" she cut him off again with a raised hand, too polite to cut him off with just her voice, but he listened to her and stopped trying to come up with an excuse.

"You won’t be fine.” Mikoto said, voice dropping into gentleness and care. “Maybe you'll manage, maybe you will feel better by tomorrow. But what about the next time? What about the day Naruto is old enough to understand this? Jiraiya, I want you to have the help and the proper skills to manage these types of days, for yourself first and foremost, but also for Naruto."

A loud happy squeal broke the contemplative silence and Jiraiya let out a long sigh, she was right; more than right, Tsunade had had to pull both him and Orochimaru out of their own mind more times than he could count; had kept the routine up even when the Third had told her they should be able to manage themselves. She would want him to finally be accepting help in a more meaningful way. "If you could… arrange something I would be in your clans debt, Mikoto."

She smiled at him and stretched a hand out to him across the tabletop, guiding him to put the cup down and taking one hand in her own. "You will never owe us anything. Naruto is for me, in everything but name, part of my family." Her own sorrow danced across her face for a moment. "And by extension you are too."

He nodded, and then nodded again, using her touch as a guiding and grounding presence and focusing on the memory of Tsunade’s. A ghost of a feeling, of the understanding that came from a decade fighting side-by-side, Jiraiya took a deep breath, blinked hard once and stood. Emptying out his tea with a tossed apology, before sitting back down and serving himself another cup. 

If he focused hard enough, he could imagine how it used to be and bring those feelings forward; repeat again and again in his mind that this wasn’t forever, that he could be present and capable without them by his side. Mikoto smiled at him, sliding a scroll across the table, and laughing brightly at his baffled expression after he had read it.

The Uchiha clan knew a lot about tradition, they ran the law in the village, reinforced things. Leave it to them to find a way around the order for them to stay out of Naruto’s life. If anything he shouldn’t even be even the slightest bit shocked; but it was an honour regardless.

“Do you accept?” Mikoto asked, face bright.

“I think it would be in my best interest to say yes, but regardless of my best interest of course. Yes, Mikoto, it would be an honour.” Naming him Itachi’s preferred mentor before the child was even out of the Academy; Sarutobi would be able to find no sane way to dismiss the motion without intense backlash, and it would tie their families together in an almost unbreakable way. “Does he have classmates you want to put forward as well, or is the motion for just him to study under me?”

“We were thinking we would leave that up to the Third Hokage.” She said, smiling taking on a delightful edge of scheming. Jiraiya could get used to this. 

“That’s one way to pull me out of a funk, I always thought I should have stayed a teacher.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to have to change some tags because this fic is getting away from me, it's not a bad thing really but I never expected to get to chapter 4 let alone be working on chapter 7 and actually editing them. Which I think says a lot about me and how I work lmao.  
> I hope you still enjoy, sometimes it's harder than others, but I'll keep trying to get this to some sort of a sensible end.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if you follow me on Tumblr you'll know I got absolutely consumed by the Yakuza fandom for a solid part of 2020. And also that I lost inspiration to work on this, which suck because I really like it! So I'm posting this chapter (unedited) to get it out there and hopefully kick my own butt in gear! I'm also working on another long-fic behind the scenes but I have no idea when that may start going up, and the only common theme with this is found family except a little weirder because it's focused more on the Akatsuki! I'll try and re-read this monster so far and start on chapter 8 at some point, but until then I hope this offers some amount of enjoyment! An OC makes an appearance here as well and sets up another idea I had for plot but really! Who knows maybe I'll take the entire thing down in the future and rework it but for now! On to chapter 7 :-)

The days passed smoothly, with nothing much to do Jiraiya was able to focus on Naruto and himself. Itachi stopped by at some points in the afternoon, telling Jiraiya about how the Academy was going; more often than not unintentionally bringing up how easy the classes and work was for him. He was incredibly intelligent and it definitely showed, but it worried Jiraiya sometimes how indifferent he seemed to his own struggle to associate with his peers. If he had shown any sign of upset Jiraiya would have had advice, but the lack of care about it left an unsettled reminder in his stomach of how easily young men like that had been to manipulate.

Shaking himself from his thoughts he poked a hand over his shoulder to check on his godson, who laughed brightly, wiggling and grabbing onto the finger and holding on; with his hair tied up in a high bun it was hopefully safe out of grabbing range. Naruto had a strong grip, and wasn’t deterred from holding on to whatever he wanted in his hands; it was admirable in a way, but mostly annoying. Patting his satchel he looked around once more to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything important, before turning and leaving the house.

Mikoto had kept her promise of finding him a healer, and had set the appointment up for him shortly after she had left the week before, now he was on his way to the Uchiha compound to meet up with them at Mikoto’s house. It was as private as they could all manage, and if it did somehow get out Mikoto had assured him Fugaku would ensure people thought it was a qualifier to mentoring their son which gave him some peace of mind; knowing everyone in the house would be aware of the situation.

Adjusting the straps to Naruto’s onbuhimo one last time as he stepped off his property he veered towards the edge of the treeline, Mikoto had told him someone would be meeting him at the compounds secondary entrance at the back, and had given him as precise as a location and time as she could; but he still set off far too early. Convincing himself it was in case Naruto needed anything and not because his nerves were building too fast, approaching a level where he would try to weasel his way out of the meeting, instead of going as he had promised her and himself. 

\--

Naruto perched happily on Itachi’s legs, reaching for a toy as the young child held it just out of range. He had been sent home early from the Academy that day because they were continuing drills in the afternoon, and Itachi had already shown his teacher he was more than capable with kunai, and he was glad for it. Naruto wasn’t like his brother was at this age, and unlike he was now- Sasuke had often cried at the slightest disturbance, but had settled down into being quietly curious as he aged, mother had been worried about him not talking much yet but the family healer had told her that he was like his father had been at that age so she wasn’t overly concerned yet.

Naruto, though, was communicating non-stop with him, grabbing and tugging and babbling nonsense that would sometimes come close to mimicking the words of the people around him. It was fascinating, he was an endless stream of activity, amazed with the world around him and easily distracted. None of the adults seemed to comment on the difference, and so Itachi assumed it would be impolite to do so. 

Master Jiraiya was here for a meeting and so Itachi had been sent to the front porch with his brother and Naruto while the family set everything up for them. Father was still at work, so mother was making sure everything would go smoothly before she joined them. A tugging at his sleeve took his attention away from Naruto for a moment, Sasuke pouted up at him and gestured for the toy he had been playing with for Naruto.

“Do you want to play too, Sasuke?” His brother bounced, smiling and waving his hand to capture and take the toy when Itachi offered it so him. Sitting back down from crawling he waved the rattle around, scooting forward a bit more again and waving it until Naruto caught onto it; laughing and babbling, now directed to Sasuke as he tugged the toy back and waved it around again. Itachi beamed. “That’s very nice Sasuke, you’re being very kind to Naruto, he’s having a lot of fun. Right, Naruto?” The blond baby squealed and laughed, smacking at Itachi’s chest and the rattle.

When the door opened all the boys attention turned, watching as mother walked out, smiling at them with snacks in her hand. “How are my favourite babies doing?” Sasuke perked up, dropping the toy and turning to lift his arms up at their mother. “And my most favourite baby of all.” She set the snacks down and crouched to pick Sasuke to his feet and shower his face with kisses as he giggled and smiled at her.

“Hello, mother, are things going well?” She smiled at him, moving to sit and letting Sasuke crawl into her lap and settle down, play with Naruto forgotten as he settled his face against her stomach; smile wide. 

“Yes, Itachi, every thing’s settled and Jiraiya said it would be okay for Grandmother Hatsu to see Naruto. Do you want to come with us?” Mother always gave him a choice, always told him he could choose for himself what was best for him, it’s why he would go to her before father when something happened. 

“Yes please, mother. Can I carry him?” She nodded, picking the snacks back up after tucking Sasuke up against her shoulder. Itachi followed behind her, glad he had practice carrying children when Naruto started fussing on their way there.

\--

Jiraiya took a long draw from his cup, enjoying the warmth as he thought over what he would say. Mikoto had promised to escort the man in as soon as he arrived, but his nerves were picking up again. The house was silent but the sound of Naruto’s warbling was audible through the walls, spiking his anxiety even more. Mikoto had said that she was taking him to see one of the Uchiha families private care staff, but had refused to disclose any information about who other than her name; which did sound familiar but he couldn’t place why, not with his mind jumping from anxiety to anxiety.

He had a reputation. He knew that, Mikoto knew that, hell Shisui knew that; the issue would come when the healer knew that, and how much of it that he would be willing to believe was a front. 

There was a soft knock on the door and Jiraiya took a grounding breath and put his cup down, “Come in.”

Jiraiya could have laughed if he wasn’t so baffled by the mans identity, and Morino Ibiki obviously shared those thoughts because he rolled his eyes heavenward and let out a soft breathy chuckle. Of course the new head of Torture and Investigation would also be a certified mind health specialist, the man had had his fingers in so many hats before being promoted Jiraiya had almost been sure he was preparing to jump ship if he wasn’t.

“I’m glad we at least know each other, saves time on introductions.” Jiraiya said, pouring the man his tea as he sat down on folded legs. “All the other stuff I know nothing about aside from what Tsunade picked up before deciding on a field, so I’m going in to this almost blind, Morino.”

The man inhaled slowly and then let one out at an equal pace. “I don’t see a lot of people, but most of them have less knowledge than I imagine you retained from Lady Tsunade, so there’s nothing to worry about in that regard.” There was another pause as they both thought on that, knowing who he was working with calmed Jiraiya a shocking amount considering what the man was known for. “I usually start by asking what is the biggest driving factor to see me.”

Jiraiya leaned back, his hands on his knees and thought about the easy answer; versus the truer one that had made him agree. “Mikoto suggested it, I have depressive spirals and my usual method of keeping myself alive, I guess, and going forward is to hide in a cave until it passes. That’s obviously not an option anymore.”

“Jiraiya.” Oh, Jiraiya did not like that tone of voice. “How early did these thoughts start?” 

“Maybe...” He winced a little. “When I was still a Genin? Tsunade used to help me through them, it wasn’t as bad back then.”

And for a moment, treason once more passed through Morino Ibiki’s mind.

\--

Naruto laid on the table laughing loudly and legs waving as Hatsu tickled his stomach, squirming and clutching at the cloth she had given him to hold onto tugging at it whenever he meant to flail his arms apart. Hatsu stopped when his laughing started to come in bursts, not wanting to upset him anymore than meeting a stranger might have been. She had never had the joy that came with working with an Uzumaki child but Mito’s healer had spent many nights with her, sharing her tea and bed as knowledge and dreams of a better future flowed between them; kept hidden in notes to the other healers. Hatsu still had their groups insignia cloth framed as an art piece in her home. As she examined Naruto those conversations came back to her, there was no question in her mind just how much of the Uzumaki genetics Naruto had inherited. 

Laughing as Naruto bit her finger when she examined his mouth Hatsu let him do as he pleased, confident her body could still hold up as she lifted him gently and turned back to Mikoto; who looked politely disgruntled and alarmed as Hatsu let Naruto teeth on her finger. “He’s perfectly healthy, exactly where my books from Uzushiogakure would lead me to believe he is where he’s supposed to be in his development. The seal is holding, if Jiraiya was concerned about that, this is all his mothers blood.” She said wiggling the hand Naruto was refusing to spit out. “He’ll be a bit ahead in development for a while, so I would tell you to recommend he child proof his home sooner rather than later.”

Mikoto seemed relieve; “He’ll appreciate the news, Lady Hatsu. I’m glad he’s on track.” 

They spent a bit convincing Naruto to spit Hatsu’s finger out before Hatsu dictated a note for Mikoto to return to Jiraiya, letting the younger woman guide her hand to the proper spot to sign; rote memorization leading her through it. Hatsu gave Naruto one last kiss on the head, assured Mikoto it was fine for him to keep the small cloth. Every child in the Uchiha clan had one, often time they grew up with it as it went from being used to wipe their faces to something they used to wipe their own tears; Hatsu has only ever had to take back 2 clothes in her entire life. And so it went than the entire clan remained under their protection.

Listening to the door close as Mikoto left she led herself to the framed piece on the wall, guided by it’s soft chakra signature. With steady hands she lifted it off the mantle and removed the back piece, taking out the still soft cloth and running her fingers slowly over the insignia in the middle. They had been losing members, to old age or to war, and it was time she called the counsel together. New members would need to be initiated, and she had a few in mind that she wouldn’t be able to reach.

\--

As their session closed Morino wrote down his next availability and passed it across the table, refilling Jiraiya’s teacup. Thanking him he took a long drink, it was exhausting and relieving in a way that surprised him once Morino had settled into the flow of how Jiraiya spoke; editing his words as he went, backtracking to make sure he didn’t embellish too much or leave out things that Morino kept insisting were important to include. 

Yes, how he had felt was in fact important. Yes, he should keep including it. No, don’t exaggerate. No, don’t lie. His reality wasn’t fiction and he didn’t need to tell it like it was, especially not here. 

Morino left with one last reminder to Jiraiya to look into and experiment with grounding techniques that would fit him, leaving the door open a bit as he grabbed his jacket and left out the back door he had come in just as the front door opened and Itachi came in with Naruto’s toy in hand. 

“How did it go?” Mikoto asked, smiling down at him as Naruto tried to wriggle off her hip to get to him.

“Uhm, good, I think. It was helpful.” Mikoto smiled at him, passing Naruto down into his arms when the small child started to fuss and whine. 

“Grandmother Hatsu gave me a note to pass onto you, but Naruto is doing fine, Uzumaki’s tend to be a bit ahead on expected development because of their chakra reserves and we think exactly who is mother was contributed as well to some of his traits.” Jiraiya nodded, running his hand over Naruto’s hair as he settled down against Jiraiya’s chest, tiring down once he was in the arms of his safe person. “He may start wandering around a bit sooner, too, she gave me a list of things to make sure are covered or locked up for you to check off.”

“Thank-you, Mikoto, very much. Did Naruto like her?” Mikoto covered her bright laugh, nodding and smiling as she sat across from them, motioning Itachi into the room when he wavered there with Sasuke at his side. 

“He liked her a lot, she’s a very smart women and incredibly resilient for her age.” At Jiraiya’s curious look she smiled again, accepting the new tea cups for them from Itachi as Sasuke fussed in his attempt to crawl into her lap. “Grandmother Hatsu was one of the first Uchiha to be in Konoha, she’s our oldest healer and teaches each new generation of them in the Clan.” Jiraiya did the quick math in his head and struggled to find something to say, finally remembering where he had heard the name before.

She had been the women to inspire Tsunade to become a healer and battle field medic, she had been retired from active duty by the time Tsunade was old enough to hold conversations with her, but his teammate had gone on and on about her for days in-between her complaints about her grandfathers never having enough time for her. 

“She was Tsunade’s inspiration.” He said, amazed that she was still alive, she had been one of the older ninja in the village even back then. Tsunade would be in awe. 

“Was she? I think she would be flattered to know, she’s never told any of us about her but I can see that, she’s a very inspirational woman.” Mikoto laughed softly and Jiraiya was reminded of how young she was unintentional emotions welling up in his chest where Naruto rested his head. 

They sat in shared silence and memories for a few moments, taking alternating sips of the tea and Itachi sat with them mimicking his mothers motions as both Sasuke and Naruto rested.

Jiraiya left after Fugaku came home, politely turning down both his and Mikoto’s invitations to stay for his lunch break, making his was through the compound and returning the greeting’s people called out to him amazed by how welcoming they all were. For his lunch he stopped by a food stall, the warm smells of food washing over him as the chef struck up conversation; telling him how long she and her husband had been running the stall and inviting him back whenever he stopped by the Uchiha compound next, promising to have potato curry on the pot within the week which he swore up and down to them both he would be back for.

When he got home he woke Naruto, the boy had fallen asleep before they had left Mikoto’s home and had stayed asleep with his hands bundled in Jiraiya’s shirt all the way home, even at the food stall he had hardly stirred despite the ruckus of the market. Lunch for him was a simple affair, he had adapted to solid food amazingly and usually insisted on trying to grab the chopsticks from Jiraiya’s hand, but was kept to a minimum today as he was still drowsy.

It was nearing dinner when Gai showed up, his entire body thrumming with nervous and explosive energy. 

“Kakashi was sent on a mission, Master Jiraiya, but I am free for a little while if you need assistance with Naruto!” The child in question warbled and rolled on the grass, dragging himself a bit toward the exuberant man who looked at him with a wide anxious smile.

“I appreciate it, Gai, stay for dinner and we can work something out. There are a few things I need to settle on the property which I would appreciate someone being here to watch over Naruto while I do it.” Gai beamed.


End file.
